Stormwater Infiltration and Pollinator Habitat Zones along Highways

Poster Presenter(s)

Can wildflowers combat stormwater?
This will be a poster presentation on utilizing wildflowers along highways as a stormwater control measure tool. The potential improvements in infiltration through the use of compost and wildflowers will be covered in detail.

Stormwater Infiltration and Pollinator Habitat Zones along Highways
Shaddy Alshraah, Abby Haselton, Richard McLaughlin, Josh Heitman
Managing stormwater is an essential issue for North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Vegetation is one important element of roadside stormwater control measures(SCMs). Healthy roadside environment reduces maintenance needs, reduces erosion and runoff, and improving infiltration. Wildflowers have been planted by the NCDOT for over 30 years on roadside areas as a practice of beautification, conservation, and preservation. However there have few field studies to quantify the contribution of utilizing wildflowers as a stormwater control measurement tool as well as a pollinators habitat. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the potential improvements in infiltration through the use of compost and wildflowers over three years at three NCSU experiment stations representing the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Mountain regions. Either wildflowers or grass were planted on tilled soil with or without and compost. The experimental design is split plot, arranged in subplots (in time), with four replicates for treatments. Each plot is evaluated every six months for infiltration, bulk density, root biomass, and soil cone index. Preliminary results for infiltration suggested few differences among treatments at all locations, but relatively high infiltration rates (35 -83 cm.hr-1) on average. Tractor traffic in the grass plots during mowing substantially reduced infiltration rates where the wheels were located.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the role of wildflowers in improving the infiltration rate.

Know the effect of utilizing compost on the infiltration rate.

Know the negative effect of the tractor traffic during mowing on the infiltration rate.

Shaddy H. Alshraah

PHD STUDENTNorth Carolina State University

My Nama is Shaddy Alshraah from Jordan, and I'm currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Crop and Soil science at North Carolina State University. My research is focusing on utilizing wildflowers as a stormwater control measurement tool.
My schooling and college education played a pivotal role in shaping my future. I had excellent facilities and faculty, which laid emphasis on fundamentals. I graduated with M.Sc. in Integrated Natural Resources Management (Wastewater reuse in forage production), from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in February 2013 and a B.Sc. in Soil, Water, and Environment from JUST in 2005. Pertinent work experience after obtaining my Bachelor’s includes being a research assistant for a project concerned with salt-affected soil reclamation by calculated leaching fraction and chemical amendments (Gypsum, and phosphoric acid). I participated in publishing two articles for this project.
In between degrees, I was a researcher for the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension in Jordan(NCARE), I was a team member in a project of Rehabilitation and Integrated Management of Dry Rangelands Environments with Water Harvesting. During my Master’s experience, I worked as an interning research assistant for the Department of Soil Ecology and Sciences at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. Additionally, I was employed as a Chief Supervisor for the Department of Water, Irrigation and Drainage at Al al-Bayt University, Jordan. I was responsible for operating and maintaining the irrigation system for a 30,000 olive trees farm using treated wastewater. Also, I was a project manager for vegetable production under protected farming.